Classic cars must demonstrate originality and authenticity in order to prove
their worth, but restoration can sometimes have adverse effects on a
vehicle’s value

Embarking on a restoration project can be exciting but any work carried out on a classic car will affect the originality and authenticity of the underlying vehicle. So where to start?

When considering your purchase, you need to know whether the restoration has had a beneficial or detrimental effect on the value.

Some go to great lengths to preserve what is left of the original structure, often without regard to the cost, so they can claim that much of the original structure and components have been preserved. This, they hope, will have a positive impact on the value of the vehicle.

Peter Neumark, chairman of Classic Motor Company (CMC), commissioned one of the most prestigious preservation projects to date: the remains of the former Peter Lindner aluminium lightweight Jaguar E-Type. This car was involved in an accident in 1964 at the Montlhéry circuit near Paris. For 43 years the mangled original body was thought to be beyond repair.

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CMC invested more than 7,000 hours – 5,000 hours restoring the body alone, undertaking what many experts said was impossible – and brought one of the most beautiful E-Types ever produced back to life.

“Our craftsmen have been able to save over 90 per cent of the original body from the tangled shell,” says Neumark.

“This truly amazing restoration is a wonderful testament to our highly skilled team and is one of the most exciting restorations we have ever undertaken.”

In a similar vein, albeit from a modest converted chicken house in the Surrey Hills, Dave Workman specialises in fastidious body preservation work on classic cars for a select local clientele.

CMC brought one of the most beautiful E-Types ever produced back to life His most recent project was completed this month when he finished the sensitive body restoration of a rare Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Lightweight.

“After more than 1,000 hours of work, I managed to preserve around 80 per cent of the original body. The client was adamant that the car was to be restored as correctly as possible,” says Workman.

In the future, a detailed metal analysis of a car’s authenticity might become a key determinant of value. If the classic you are looking at has more in common with “Trigger’s Broom” than a highly original example, the market should value the car accordingly.